The Ambush Begins
The entrance ceremony had begun.
Flags from Neo Sion and the Academy’s emblem rose together, followed by the arrival and introduction of the honored guests.
Among them were Baba Yaga and a high-ranking official standing in for the Sub-Director of the Third Area.
After the usual formalities concluded, it was finally time for the representatives of the new students—Siu and Sia.
“The next part will be the new students’ oath. Top scorer Sia and second-place Siu, please come forward to the stage.”
Siu and Sia rose from their seats and walked up onto the platform.
“Oath! The 43rd batch of new students…”
[Hey, maybe this is going to end without anything happening?]
[Then when… Ah.]
*BOOM!!!*
A colossal explosion and shockwave suddenly tore through the sky.
Part of the blue barrier that had been protecting the Academy cracked apart in an instant.
“A barrier strong enough to stop tactical nuclear weapons from the old era has been breached?!”
One of the teachers muttered in disbelief.
The barrier managed directly by the academy principal used the finest magic stones as its power source, making it one of the Management Bureau’s most reliable defensive systems. Nothing short of a Calamity-grade assault could have pierced it.
But the villains’ attack had been anything but simple.
“Someone’s reckless.”
A few people caught the mana residue trailing after the shockwave.
“Magic stone bombs.”
Prim muttered quietly.
[Eh? The one the Bureau bans?]
An advanced weapon modified by ability users—high-grade magic stones or monster essences altered into explosive warheads.
Villains in sleek combat suits and shoulder-mounted thrusters slipped through the holes and launched a surprise assault.
“Hah hah hah! It’s party time! Everyone dance with your agony!”
Thick, dark-green gas rained down like a plague, heavy enough that anyone with eyes would never dare touch it.
“Eat this, you brats!”
Chiik!
Dozens of mana stone bombs, already lit, pierced the Academy’s barrier and plunged toward the students.
“Boom Art and Death Mist, the villains!”
From the beginning, this was no random raid—it was a deliberate terror attack.
The two B-rank villains who had barely scraped into hero-slayer ranks appeared at the front.
“New kids, don’t panic!”
Baba Yaga’s voice, infused with raw power, instantly silenced the nervous murmurs.
Thud… thud…
Baba Yaga rose proudly from her honored seat and stepped forward.
“Even though I laid this trap myself, you dare storm the Academy. You really underestimate this old witch.”
The Great Witch had moved.
“Let me show you the gap in our power.”
Crack… split… shatter…
Cracks bloomed in the air like they had no right to exist.
*SHRRRIIIKE!*
With a sound like a thousand glass windows shattering at once, dozens of floating bombs and toxic gas clouds were sucked into the void and vanished without a trace.
“What…?”
The two villains blinked in utter disbelief at the perfect physical phenomena defying physics—pure witchery.
Kwaak… kwaak!
Dozens of black crows erupted from the green flames surrounding Baba Yaga and dove straight for the falling villains.
“Aaah—!”
As the flock tore into Boom Art and Death Mist, a Fibonacci spiral of destruction bloomed in the sky.
“Kid.”
“Understood.”
At Baba Yaga’s command, Bumblebee, who had been waiting, unfurled his massive wings.
Whoosh—!
With the roar of a huge drone taking flight, the mid-air capture drones snatched the wounded villains and hauled them away for arrest.
“It… it ended that fast?”
The moment two villains were subdued, the way everyone looked at Baba Yaga shifted.
“Don’t relax yet, kids. This is barely the beginning.”
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!!!*
“What’s that?”
“It sounds far away—”
Smoke rose in the distance, accompanied by explosions that seemed to echo from kilometers—or even dozens of kilometers—away.
[Eh? What the hell is happening?]
[Eee?! That big?!]
Even in the original story they had pulled that same trick, so I knew.
Simultaneous terror attacks struck headquarters, banks, terminals—every critical node across the Third Area.
Most were probably self-destruction by Church fanatics who had become puppets of the Serpent.
Whether they succeeded or failed, heroes would be forced to clash anyway, and without knowing the real target, the Bureau couldn’t spare troops for the Academy.
“Are you okay, unnie?”
“Looking at me, I’m fine.”
“Tis, never let go of us.”
“I’ll protect you no matter what happens, just like unnie.”
Siu and Sia slid down from the stage and clung tightly to my sides.
And right now—real ambush had begun.
Screams and clashing steel echoed from the front gate.
The on-site security team had tried to block the intruders, but their numbers and quality were simply beyond what they could handle.
“You madmen. Planning a war against the Bureau?”
Baba Yaga watched the villains fling open the gates and storm inside with arrogant swagger, cackling with delight.
Kugugugu!
“Go ahead. Show me the strength of a fully prepared witch with all the time and money in the world.”
The moment Baba Yaga declared it, the ground began to tremble.
“Siu oppa, look—!”
“The building’s moving?!”
The warehouse that had been disguising itself as a building started to change shape.
Two thick, dinosaur-like legs supported a massive wooden body that rose into the air.
“A little hut?”
Just as it appeared—an actual hut.
The chicken-leg hut, called Baba Yaga’s own residence and her strongest artifact at the same time.
Countless magic circles formed around it, far more intricate than the ones I had tested at night.
But the villains did not stop.
Instead, they raced straight toward the glittering barrage of spells erupting from the moving fortress.
*Kiiiiiiieeeeeee!!!*
A terrifying roar echoed as twisted, monstrous figures—hundreds of bug-like beings—surged into the Academy.
“Monsters!”
“A Calamity swarm!”
It was the combined army of Calamity spawn—Katie and the others.
Most were Intermediate-grade, with a few possible Superior-grade monsters mixed in.
“Disgusting offspring of a Calamity.”
Even Baba Yaga looked briefly unsettled at the swarm that brought back memories of the Abaddon that had once torn the continent apart.
But.
“It won’t change anything. Disappear.”
Kwaaaaang!
A brilliant rain of dozens of high-tier magic bombardment spells slammed into the hut.
Most of the Calamity swarm exploded in place, turning to ash and dust.
“Waaah!”
The new students all let out cheers, unable to hide their thrill.
Of course they did. They had just witnessed Baba Yaga’s true power—the one from the Hero Party—up close for the first time.
No one could doubt that, with the Great Witch on our side, this would not be a fight.
Villains using monsters as meat shields rushed forward toward the students.
“Everyone, defensive formation! Prepare for close combat! The dangerous ones are on me!”
Roar!
Lionel roared and charged to the front.
“Lionel?”
His murderous aura was so dense that even the villains, who knew his name, faltered.
Every eye in the plaza turned toward the front gate.
Right then—
*Ziiit!*
I felt the life-threatening instinct of a strong opponent.
A desperate, soul-fusing strike was coming straight for me.
It was the barest instant.
While Baba Yaga was still casting her latest spell, someone fast-approached from behind.
Invisible. Inaudible.
This place—absolute safety zone with Lionel in front and a crowd of teachers behind—was no longer safe.
A reaper appeared.
No time to choose a target.
I moved on pure instinct.
Even Lionel, whose senses were sharpened, noticed too late and tried to turn.
But the beastman villain blocking Lionel’s path was wearing a tiger mask.
“Baba Yaga-nim!”
“Where are you going, Lionel?! Your opponent is me!”
By the time I recognized who it was, Tis’s body had already moved first.
Our eyes met for a split second.
“Unnie…!”
I didn’t understand what he was trying to do, but the sudden fear made me reach for my sister.
But Tis moved faster.
The opponent was fast and strong.
I had to deploy everything I could right now.
[Got it! Full power deployment!]
I wrapped my whole body in ichor, and the second heart that had been dormant exploded with blood.
Baba Yaga was still focused on blocking the barrage of terror attacks from the front.
I reached out toward the black blade coming from behind her.
It wasn’t enough.
To sharpen my fading judgment, I invoked Hoyeonjigi and threw myself into the Silent Killing Method.
No sounds reached me.
No smells. No distractions.
I erased the sensation of touch and the shapes I saw, stepping into the space where only those who had crossed the wall existed.
Only then did I see who the intruder was.
“Why are you here…?”
The assassin was none other than Cheon Geomhwa.
She was already missing one arm, wounded from the fight.
I wondered how she had entered this space, why she hadn’t run while searching for the treasure meant to save Roselia, but there was no time to ask.
“Sorry.”
Guilt and hesitation filled Cheon Geomhwa’s eyes, but her hand did not stop.
A single steel flower bloomed in her palm.
《Steel Bloom》
The flower shot forward and struck Tis’s body.
Crack—!
《Blossom》
Flowers bloomed across Tis’s entire body.
The sudden change made everyone around notice.
“Fluffy girl?”
“Eh, unnie…?”
“Tis?”
The iron flowers soaked in white skin turned red.
Steel Bloom
Blossom
The students gasped.